


the least i can do

by kakashienthusiast



Category: Naruto
Genre: Hatake Kakashi-centric, M/M, a family can be one depressed dog man and his two gay not quite children not quite younger siblings, like literally everything else i post on this fucking website, sakura is a medical prodigy and very talented, thats not like a hc she just is and i wanted to write about it, uh this is kkg for like half a page and the rest is team 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-23
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-07-01 10:03:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15771897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kakashienthusiast/pseuds/kakashienthusiast
Summary: team 7 has been slow to repair itself after three years of training (for sakura and naruto) and uh. something i guess. (for kakashi). gai is a good influence. sakura is fucking smart as hell and so so talented.





	the least i can do

    Kakashi hadn’t invited Gai over for a lecture, but he really should have seen it coming. A few years ago, he might have been able to blame his reclusion on an inconvenient string of missions or chakra recovery, but nowadays things seemed to move at a slower pace and he’d found himself with an abundance of time and a severe lack of ways to fill it. It wasn’t like he didn’t recognize the growing issue. On the contrary, inviting Gai over had been an attempt to fix the problem. It seemed to have been the right call in the end, since somehow here he was, gently reminding Kakashi of the responsibilities he had been avoiding.

    “Come on rival, when’s the last time you got your team together for training?”

    “Three years ago.” Kakashi answered flatly.

    “Oh, you know that’s not what I meant.” Gai scolded him lightly for the unhelpful answer.

    “The last time I asked those two to meet me somewhere as Team 7 was a few days after Naruto got back. So what, 3 months ago?” Gai looked aghast. “Ah, it’s not that bad, is it?”

    Kakashi shrugged. “Naruto and Sakura have both been training with the Sannin.” _I guess Sasuke even is too, huh,_ he remembered briefly, but refused to linger on the thought. “There’s no reason to make them go to the trouble now that they have proper teachers, right?” When Kakashi looked up again, Gai’s eyes had gotten serious.

    “I think you should get your team back together, Kakashi. It would be good for all three of you.” Gai was right. Gai was almost always right. That didn’t mean Kakashi had to like it, even if he’d still follow through on it.

    “I know that you’re right and I am going to ask them to meet me next week....” he sighed.

    “Wonderful!” Gai exclaimed. Kakashi held up a finger and tried to darken his expression.

    “... But right now, I am getting drunk and finishing this literary masterwork.” He held up a familiar, well-worn book in his hand. Gai laughed gently.

    “I realize you’re trying to sound reckless and indifferent right now, but I really am glad you’re still taking your role as teacher seriously with those kids.” Gai’s voice was warm and genuine. Kakashi liked to joke about how predictable Gai could be, but moments like this reminded Kakashi that he too was pretty predictable. Being predictably soft when it came to his students wasn’t so bad though. They’d already been through enough, so they at least deserved a teacher who cared about them. _A thought that nice is almost worth feeling this vulnerable._

    “It’s the least I can do.”

\--

    Kakashi really hadn’t expected both Naruto and Sakura to be free on the same day, at the same time, with maybe 6 hours of notice, but when he sent out a message to them, Pakkun had returned with responses in record time.

 _I’ll definitely be there!_ Kakashi had expected that kind of response from Naruto, who seemed to have nothing but free time since returning to the village. He wasn’t bound by daily life the same way the rest of them were, Sakura especially so.

    _Got it. Could you tell us sooner next time?_ It was impressive that the Hokage’s star pupil was able find the time on such short notice, but then again, Team 7 was probably a much bigger part of those kids’ lives than his. It made sense that they’d hold their team in such a high regard. That’s what Kakashi had taught them after all.

    Whether or not he should have expected this outcome, Kakashi now had a training session to be at in the morning. He was definitely too drunk for 8am. _Well_ , he thought to himself. _It’s better to be consistent, I guess._

\--

    Kakashi was running late. For once, it was almost acceptably late, but still distinctly late. _Fifteen minutes is almost a reasonable amount of late right? It’s better than thirty minutes or an hour, at least... The bar is so low and I’m still tripping on it._ He would’ve considered pondering how far he’d fallen as a respectable shinobi, but was interrupted by another latecomer’s presence on the road.

    Sakura was also running late. She was ahead of him by at least fifty feet, but they still had another minute of walking to reaching the training ground. She was also carrying a bag that looked heavy. She held the weight up fine, but the shoulder straps looked to be under a significant amount of strain. They weren’t near enough to justify the effort of rushing over, so he just kept pace and went back to wondering what part of his morning had made him so late.

     When he reached the edge of the training ground, Naruto and Sakura were already excitedly talking. They probably hadn’t spent any time together either since Naruto had come back to the village. Tsunade-sama tended to ask a lot of her students and that included Sakura. _Still, they should be about equal in strength after having each trained with one of the Sannin,_ he thought. When Sakura’s backpack fell to the floor with a tangible thud, Naruto’s shocked face communicated enough surprise for the two of them.

    “Sakura, were you carrying rocks or something?” Naruto asked, wide-eyed. _She’s had a few one-off training sessions with Gai, hasn’t she,_ he thought. _It’s not impossible he put her up to this in the name of training._ He jogged the last few feet and caught their attention.

    “Hey you two! Sorry I’m late!” He’s always said that. He’s also not quite sure how long ago it stopped being meaningful, but it’s the thought that counts anyways, right? In the moment he’d paused to wonder, Naruto had already dashed towards him. He’d really gotten taller, they’d never been so eye-to-eye. Sakura walked their way, leaving the heavy looking bag on the ground. “So Sakura, did Gai try to talk you into some weight training again?”

    “What? You’ve been training with Gai-sensei _and_ that old lady?” Naruto sounded alarmed that Sakura might have been training harder than him.

    “Huh? Gai-sensei? No, it’s just some stuff for my thesis. See?” Sakura stomped her heel firmly into the ground, shoving up the patch of ground under her bag and knocking it in their direction. It landed neatly at her feet and she opened the latch and showed them the contents - several hefty textbooks, a few well-worn reference tables, and a chaotic mess of loose paper.

    “You’re writing a thesis?” Naruto cocked his head, surprised at the academic term. _How does he manage to make everything sound like a question?_

    “Yup, it’s part of Tsunade-sama’s training. I’m proposing a theory behind how Shodaime’s healing jutsu might have worked and it’s due next month, so I’ve been pulling some late nights trying to finish it.” She shrugged sheepishly. “And I’ve been taking my notes with me in case I get some unexpected free time.” She scowled at Kakashi, most likely for depriving her of study time by arriving on time or at least just less late than usual. He met her withering gaze with a cheery wave. _Tsunade-sama’s influence really has taken hold on her,_ he thought nervously.

    “You’re working on a thesis already, Sakura?” Kakashi asked. It really was impressive for her age - most medics studied for a decade before amassing enough experience to write an original contribution. Her gaze darkened a bit more.

    “Is there a reason I shouldn’t be?”

    “Well, you’re still a teenager right? Isn’t that a bit early to be working on a thesis?”

    “Kakashi-sensei,” she smiled with a threatening politeness. “Remind me, how old were you when you were promoted to jonin again?” _That’s a good point,_ he thought. After a brief second to process her counter, he nodded.

    “...I look forward to reading your work when it’s published.” It wasn’t a lie. He had a fair interest in understanding the Shodaime’s abilities, so new research from Tsunade-sama’s student would have caught his attention anyways. It just so happened that the student in question was also a student of his. An unfamiliar emotion flashed through Kakashi’s thoughts, but he recognized it immediately. He was proud.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for coming to my ted talk?


End file.
